Plans to allow Scottish councils to stop running press ads dropped

Controversial plans to allow Scotland's 32 councils to stop using local newspapers for public notices have been dropped after furious complaints by MSPs at Holyrood and industry leaders . The Scottish finance secretary, John Swinney, said that after listening to opposition parties, local councils and the newspaper industry it became clear his minority government's plans would have never have passed through the Scottish parliament. The decision was hailed by the Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray as a victory for his party, which had led protests against the proposal, while the Tories said Swinney's plans to shift all public and statutory notices online were "ill-conceived" from the start. Swinney insisted, however, the proposal to drop the legal requirement that statutory notices have to be printed in the local press would cost local authorities £6m, at a time of intensifying pressure to cut public spending. He and the councils would continue to pursue this issue and would still press ahead with plans for an online public notices portal, in parallel with press adverts. He also insisted the Scottish National party government would continue to "liaise closely" with the newspaper industry to ensure it had a "sustainable and successful future." Swinney added: "Those who called on us to withdraw this legislation have singularly failed to say how they would cut spending on adverts -given the financial pressures as a result of the Westminster-imposed spending cuts — and enable that money to be directed to real local priorities," he said. "That remains a clear objective for the Government and an agenda we will continue to take forward." Opposition parties dispute Swinney's figures on the cost of the move and also believe ministers over-estimated the accessibility of the internet: authoritative figures show only 60% of Scots have home broadband, down to 39% in Glasgow. Industry executives and the National Union of Journalists believe that switching all public notices online would cost the industry about £10m a year, at a time of sharply falling circulation. After an earlier cut in council spending on public sector job adverts in the press, their advertising revenues fell by 20%, contributing to more than 120 editorial job losses in national Scottish titles alone. Gray said: "This decision is a victory for democracy and a humiliating climbdown for the SNP. John Swinney's proposals to allow local councils to put public notices online instead of in newspapers were undemocratic and I am glad that they have now been dropped. "Large numbers of people in Scotland don't have access to the internet and there is a real danger that putting public notices online would have led to important decisions being taken without proper scrutiny." • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".